


Miscommunication & Misinterpretation

by Sassi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Female Reader, Formally titled High School Teenage Angst, Just teenage drama, No mentions of Spider-Man, first person POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 08:11:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19764109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sassi/pseuds/Sassi
Summary: Peter and I always tended to gravitate towards each other, but when he suddenly starts spending all his time with MJ, I have to wonder if maybe he just wants her instead.





	Miscommunication & Misinterpretation

“Okay class, you’ll be working in groups of two today so go ahead and pair up. And I swear, if this takes ten minutes like it did last time, I’m just going to start assigning you all partners.”

The feeling of hope rose up in me before I had a chance to squash it down. I automatically started turning, knowing exactly what I was going to see and yet, frustratingly, I continued to hope anyway. And yep, there it was. Peter was already looking at MJ, once again choosing her as his partner.

That crushing feeling of disappointment was all too familiar. I knew it was stupid; this was only a dumb class project but I still couldn’t help but feel dejected.

“Wanna partner up with me?” Ned asked, a carefree smile on his face.

“Sure, Ned.” I attempted to smile back, not wanting him to think that any of my dumb feelings were directed at him. “That’d be great.”

Ned was a real sweetheart - kind, smart, and more loyal than anyone I’d ever known. There really wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for his friends so I felt bad about being disappointed over having him as a partner for the project. He dragged his chair over to my desk and I pushed my books and pens over to the side to make room for him. Ned started throwing out ideas and approaches we could take so it wasn’t too difficult to lose myself in work.

Peter laughed at something MJ said and I looked over at him, immediately distracted by the sound and the brilliant smile that lit up his face.

Well… maybe I wasn’t as lost in work as I thought I’d been.

* * * * * * * *

I’d met Peter when we both started at Midtown. He and Ned had already been friends since they came from the same primary school. My family had just moved to the area so I didn’t know anybody at all. I was nervous, shy and very scared. In my first class of the day though, I found my fears were unfounded. I’d worn an old Star Wars shirt to school and this guy had immediately noticed it and had struck up a conversation with me.

I was fascinated by the guy’s wide grin, his eyes brown like melted chocolate, his vibrant and contagious laughter. After that, that was it. We were friends. If I hadn’t worn that shirt, I’m sure Peter and I would have still become friends at some point, but it was just a wonderful and much-appreciated kickstart to our friendship. Peter introduced me to Ned and I went from having one friend to having two.

MJ and I took a little longer to become friends. Well, at that point, she’d just been Michelle to me. And by a little, I mean it took like two years. We knew of each other and had spoken once or twice when we were put in a group together, but other than that, we stayed pretty solidly in the acquaintance category. 

And then one year, we were put at the same desk together for Chemistry and we learned that those pairings would stay that way for the entire semester. So we were pretty much forced to interact almost daily. At first, Michelle was… not quite defensive, just more introverted and used to being by herself. We didn’t know how to approach working together. The first week was a teensy bit awkward but civil. The next week was less awkward and a bit more amiable. And it just kept going until we got to a point where we could safely call ourselves friends.

Then, in the one class the four of us shared together that year, I decided to take a little bit of a leap of faith by inviting Michelle to join Peter, Ned, and I in a group assignment. There was no click of “oh my god we’re all best friends now”, but whenever Peter or Ned would pass by her in the halls and greet her with a wave and a smile, she would respond in kind. 

My feelings for Peter also started to change throughout all of that. All the things that had immediately drawn me to him started to stir tiny little flutters in my stomach. Those flutters grew into butterflies. He just… he made me happy. I wanted to be around him. I wanted to be the one to put those absolutely stunning smiles on his face. It didn’t take me long to realise I’d developed a fully fledged crush on Peter Parker. I didn’t feel like I was being very subtle about that crush either but he seemed to remain oblivious. And as long as he remained oblivious, I wasn’t going to say anything.

* * * * * * * *

“You’ll be working in groups of two today. I’m leaving the groups up to you guys.”

Peter and MJ sat in front of me so I had a front-row view of them immediately partnering up. It almost seemed like every time that happened, the ache in my chest grew a teensy bit more painful.

* * * * * * * *

I always had little daydreams and thoughts about what would happen if I actually did confess my feelings to Peter. Sometimes the daydreams were about me watching him laugh or smile and I’d just absentmindedly say, “Fuck, I love you”. His eyes would grow wide and I’d realise the words that had left my mouth. We’d both know that I didn’t mean it in a friendly way. He’d whisper, “...Do you mean that?” Stunned silent, I would do nothing but nod. A smile would grow on his face, a beautiful, amazed smile, and he’d say he loves me too. Then we’d both lean in for the kiss, the music would swell, fireworks would go off in the sky and everything would be perfect.

Yeah… maybe not 100% realistic. A girl can dream though.

In reality though… I couldn’t help but think that it would go exactly the opposite of that daydream. It would probably go more like:

Me: I love you.

Him: Oh… I mean… I’m sorry but I don’t feel that way about you.

Me: Oh, umm… okay. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to leave the country and never return.

Him: Yeah, that might be a good idea.

Okay again, possibly a little dramatic, but still the basic idea was still there. I’d confess and he’d apologise and politely reject me. It was Peter so of course, he would be nice about it, but it would still hurt. Then undoubtedly, our friendship wouldn’t be the same because we’d both we so _aware_ of my feelings and things would be so awkward between us. Gradually, that awkwardness would force us to drift apart and our friendship would be no more.

That was something I couldn’t deal with. Peter Parker was such an important person in my life and I couldn’t imagine him not being a part of it. If there was even the slightest chance that me telling him my feelings would ruin our friendship, then that wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. I would much rather have him in my life only as my friend than not have him in my life at all.

* * * * * * * *

“The experiment we’re doing today will require you to work in groups of two, so go ahead and pair up.”

A quick turn of my head revealed that all too familiar scene of Peter and MJ together, talking quietly and smiling at each other. I took a deep breath and turned to face Ned. The smile on my face didn’t feel remotely believable, but I was too tired to try and make it more genuine. If Ned noticed my down mood at all, he didn’t say anything.

* * * * * * * *

It wasn’t that I didn’t like MJ. Quite the opposite, I absolutely love her to bits. And in her defense, I never actually told her about my feelings for Peter so she had no way of knowing I liked him. I mean, even though he and I had typically paired up automatically, though that could have been interpreted as us just being quite close. So the stupid and complete illogical feelings of betrayal I was experiencing were… well… stupid and completely illogical. There was no way I was going to start a fight with her over something as silly as a guy. Sisters before misters, chicks before dicks, uteruses before duderuses, and all that jazz. Yeah, I was feeling pretty bitter towards her right now, but that would pass, just like my feelings for Peter would likely pass in time.

Unless… unless this wasn’t just innocent flirting and the two actually started dating because that would hurt like fuck to see. Yep, even just the thought of Peter and MJ together made my heart ache.

* * * * * * * *

“Pair up.”

* * * * * * * *

“Teams of two.”

* * * * * * * *

“Partners.”

* * * * * * * *

Had the teachers all gotten together at the beginning of the school year and collectively decided that this year would have the record number of partner assignments and projects in history? Because it was really beginning to seem that way. For every subject, I had been forced to watch the two of them pair up and look at each other with those shy little smiles. For months, I had to deal with them immediately gravitating towards each other.

Maybe… maybe I needed to take a step back. Maybe it was a good idea to hang out with other people, like Betty, Sally and Cindy. Just get away from Peter and MJ for a little while for my own sanity because my method was obviously not working. Maybe I just needed to let the two of them be happy because… if they truly are happy together, then… who am I to stand in their way?

* * * * * * * *

“Alright guys, you’ll be working in pairs for this paper. You have all of today’s lesson as well as the weekend to work on it. You’ll be expected to hand in your finished paper on Monday at the beginning of class. I’ll give you a little bit of time to pick your partner.”

I didn’t even look up, my eyes locked on my hand drawing indiscernible shapes and patterns in the margin of my notebook. On my right, I heard Cindy and Sally agree to be partners. Finally, I glanced up, ready to ask Betty to be my partner, only to see Ned and her already talking. I sighed.

“Hey, wanna be my partner?”

I jumped, carving a deep, dark line across my page with my pen. To my left stood… Peter? He smiled down at me, standing with one hand in his pocket. His shirt had some sort of science pun, but his jacket obscured the punchline of the joke. His chocolate brown hair looked pretty ruffled, like he’d been running his fingers through it.

I blinked at him, confused. “Wait… what?”

“Do you want to be my partner for this?” he repeated.

My heart clenched and I managed to hide my wince. Yes, I did want to be his partner. But not the way he meant, not even close. I glanced over to the table he’d been sitting at previously and saw MJ sitting by herself. She didn’t seem upset or… well, she seemed pretty much like usual, but she’d always been a little tricky to read. 

I wanted to say yes. I wanted to be able to spend the next hour plus the weekend working on this assignment with him, but… Maybe this was a chance for me to be a good friend to MJ which was something I hadn’t been for a while now. Maybe this was the first step to moving past these feelings I had for Peter.

“Uhh… I think MJ wants to partner up with you, Pete,” I said, forcing the most genuine smile I was capable of to my face. Every word I spoke sent a pang of pain through my chest, but I said them anyway. “You guys make a really good team so it makes sense.”

His smile faded, but he nodded. “Oh uh… yeah, I mean, I guess we do. I’ll just… uhh… go pair up with MJ instead.”

He moved back over to MJ and sat down beside her. She immediately leaned close to him, her voice too quiet for me to hear. They looked cute together. This was good. This was a good decision. So why did it hurt so much?

“I can’t help but notice that you don’t have a partner.” 

I snapped out of my thoughts to see Flash now hovering over me, propping himself up by resting his hand on the back of my chair. He smiled - or maybe that was closer to a leer - and leaned in a little bit closer. 

“How about you be my partner?” he suggested, raising an eyebrow in a way that I’m sure he meant to be suggestive.

Yeah, being Flash’s partner, even for just this project, was the last thing I wanted. The guy was arrogant, stuck up, rude, narcissistic, and, to my great displeasure, the only option available to be my partner.

I took a deep breath and tried not to look like I wanted to be anywhere but here. “Sure Flash, let’s be partners.”

He grinned, looking vaguely smug. “Perfect. Why don’t we head over to my table? I’ll carry your books for you.”

“Uhh okay?” 

He gathered up the books I had set up on my table and led me over to his table on the opposite side of the classroom. He even pulled the chair out for me. This was Flash though, so I knew that he has some sort of game. The guy wasn’t exactly known for being a decent sort of person. As we walked, I could practically feel eyes on me. When I looked back, Peter was staring in our direction, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was staring at Flash.

As much of an ass that he was, Flash was actually pretty smart (he just didn’t know how to be modest about his intelligence). We began planning out how we’d approach the paper and figured out a topic to do that we were both happy with (that one took a little bit of time). Finally, after one of the longest hours of my life, the bell rang, the glorious sound that meant I could finally go home, and we all began filing out of the classroom. Unfortunately, Flash followed me.

“How about you come over to my place to work on the paper?” Flash walked backward - somehow managing to strut - so I had to hide all my annoyed facial expressions that were begging to be shown. “I think you’d really like my place. We actually just had the whole thing remodelled. I can even get a driver to come get you if you want.”

Oh god… excuse. I need an excuse. “Oh wow, I’d love to, Flash. But uhh… my parents are actually away this weekend and they don’t want me to go anywhere while they’re gone… or even, like, have people over,” I said, amazed at my ability to come up with a semi-decent lie on the spot. “Let’s just divide it up into parts and just each take a part.”

He didn’t seem happy with that. All traces of smugness left his face and his lips pulled down into an unsatisfied frown. Then suddenly he smirked again. “Oh well, that works, I suppose. But we probably should trade numbers, right? So we can divide it up.”

At that point, I was just so tired and eager to go home that I just agreed. I gave him my number and he immediately texted me to make sure he’d entered it correctly.

Flash tucked his phone away in his pocket and winked at me. Ew. “I’ll text you. See you later.”

He glanced over my shoulder, his smirk growing, and then finally he walked away. I paused at the top of the steps into the school, and took a deep breath of fresh air, appreciating the fact that I was alone, _finally_ alone, and then I was pulled into another conversation only two seconds later.

“So, you and Flash are working together, huh?”

Peter moved up to stand beside me - had Flash been smirking at Peter? Why? - and his facial expression was… interesting. It was like he was trying to look casual and unbothered, but the small creases on his forehead and the way his lips curled down a tiny bit at the corners showed his displeasure. I suppressed a wince, hating how easily I could decipher his facial expressions.

I shrugged, playing with the strap of my backpack. “Yeah, I guess we are.”

“And he has your number now… so you guys are going to be texting each other?” Peter met my eyes for a split second and then looked away again, staring off in the direction Flash had walked away.

“Well I mean, for this paper, yeah we kinda have to,” I said, furrowing my brow in annoyance.

“He seemed to be laying on the flirting a little thick, don’t you think?” he frowned. It was like Peter couldn’t sit still; he rolled his weight from one hip to the other, he ran his hand once more through his already messy hair.

I rolled my eyes. “Well yeah, but it’s Flash, Peter. You know he’s not being serious.”

“Yeah, I know…”

At that point, I hit the end of my patience. I huffed out an impatient sigh. “Look, I’m really tired and I just want to go home so if there’s something you want to say, please just say it.”

Peter looked at me, then down at his shoes, and then off into the distance again. “I don’t like it… him flirting with you.”

There was a beat of silence as I processed his words, and then I scoffed quietly. “You don’t… like it?”

“No. This is _Flash_ ,” Peter insisted, gripping onto his bag with a clenched fist. “He’s been an ass to us for years and now you’re just letting him flirt with you?”

My jaw clenched and I took a deep breath, reluctantly allowing his comment to slide. I wasn’t ‘letting’ Flash do anything. “He’s my partner for this paper. And what does it matter if he flirts? I’d rather that than him just being an uncooperative asshole the entire time.”

“He didn’t have to be your partner!” Peter said. “I would have been happy to pair up with you. I asked you first, didn’t I?”

Every word he spoke sent a fresh wave of pain through me and I absolutely hated the words that were about to come from my mouth. “You and MJ have a good thing going. You might as well just stay with her. Don’t worry about me, I can handle myself. Besides, when did you take control of who can and who can’t flirt with me? Why do you even care?”

His eyebrows pulled down, his mouth falling open as he tried to find a reply. “What… what are you talking about? You’re my friend! Of course I care!”

“Yeah, Peter… I’m your _friend_ ,” I muttered, unable to keep the bitterness from my voice.

He blinked, visibly taken aback by my tone. “What, so this whole thing doesn’t bother you at all?”

I sighed harshly. “Look Peter, the only thing bothering me right now is you. Just… just go back to MJ and don’t bother worrying about me. I’m fine.”

With that, I turned my back to him and started walking away, already feeling that annoying prickling sensation at the back of my eyes that meant that at any moment I could just burst into tears. That had _sucked_ , absolutely one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. The ache in my chest hurt worse than ever and the pain seemed to increase whenever my heart beat. Or what was left of it at least; it didn’t exactly feel whole anymore, it felt far more like broken shards just barely held together with barbed wire. And yes, I was fully aware of how incredibly dramatic that was to say, but that was how it felt.

The straps of my backpack crumpled in my hands as I gripped onto them tightly. My eyes stayed locked on my feet as I moved shakily forward. The sidewalk swam in and out of focus with each and every tear that formed. The city around me was uncaring to my emotional breakdown; the harried and impatient citizens of New York pushed past me, knocking against my shoulders, and offering no apologies. I focused on putting one foot in front of the other, getting closer and closer to the sanctuary of my home. After everything, I felt like I deserved a nice, long nap.

Then, I heard someone calling my name. The voice was very familiar.

“Wait! Wait, please wait!”

I hastily wiped the tears away, though I could already feel more forming, and I turned to face him. “What, Peter?”

“I have so many questions,” he said. Despite his jogging to catch up with me, he didn’t seem to be even close to being out of breath. “Why do you keep bringing up MJ? Why do you seem so mad at me? What the hell are we even fighting about?”

“I’m too tired for this, Peter,” I confessed. “I can’t tell you why. I physically can’t! Please just… drop it.”

“I don’t think I can do that,” he said. I’d never seen him like this before. His eyes were wide and pleading, his shoulders were hunched in like he had the weight of the world resting on them. “I just… I hate fighting with you. But I’m so lost… I’m so confused.”

“Well, you know what? I’m confused too,” I told him. “I’m confused as to why you are here with me right now. Shouldn’t you be with your _partner_?”

“MJ?” Peter blinked, looking an even mix between utterly perplexed and frustrated. “She’s my partner for this project, yeah, but that’s it. Honestly… you’re sounding a little…”

“A little what, Peter?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, visibly battling with his nerves. Finally, he opened his eyes again. “Okay… If you admit that you’re jealous, then… I’ll do the same.”

“Jealous? I- I… wait… you’re _jealous_?” My eyes grew wide in disbelief and my arms dropped uselessly down to my sides. “Of what?”

“Flash,” he admitted, pausing to bite his lip. I immediately dropped my gaze down to look at his mouth, way too distracted by the movement. “I’m jealous because he has the confidence to flirt with you and I’ve been trying to build up the courage to do that for months.”

There were no words coming to mind at all. I could only stare at him, my eyes wide and my mouth gaping slightly. It was like the city had faded into the background. I couldn’t hear the traffic or the low chatter of the people around us. All I could focus on was Peter and the unbelievable things he was saying.

He smiled faintly. “And you’re jealous because I’ve been spending so much I’ve with MJ. And to be honest, this whole time, MJ has been trying to get me to tell you how I feel. As you can probably tell, her pep talks weren’t really sinking in.”

“I was worried if I said anything and you didn’t feel the same way, our friendship would be ruined,” I whispered.

“You know I wouldn’t have let that happen,” Peter said. He reached his hand out and laced his fingers through mine. “But luckily for us, I really do like you.”

“I like you too, Peter,” I smiled. 

My heart was pounding in my chest, but for once, there was no pain. Just joy. He beamed back at me, his thumb brushing lightly across my skin.

“Did you… did you want to come hang out at my place for a bit?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded, his eyes twinkling. “I’d really like that.”

* * * * * * * *

“Alright, class. Pick someone to work with for this project today.”

For the first time, I didn’t feel dread upon hearing those words. I turned my head and Peter was already grinning in my direction. 

“Wanna be partners?” he asked, a teasing lilt to his voice.

I tapped a finger against my chin, pretending to think about his words. “Yeah, I suppose that would be alright.”

From her seat next to Ned, MJ rolled her eyes at us.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
